Abandoned houses and buildings.

[GL]

This old place is just off of highway 501 near Florence, SC. It appears to have been abandoned for an easy 30 years possibly much longer. No signs of electricity or indoor plumbing so I'd guess it's at least 90 years old perhaps from the 20s but possibly much older as I am having trouble dating this house. A hint lies in the odd hollow bricks visible in the construction.
The porch has trees growing through it and the windows look as if they have actually rotted out of the bricks, the house is also settling in a haphazard way with vines and vegetation filling stress cracks. I doubt this place will be intact in 10 years. Two chimneys, one collapsed and the back one is falling. Three rooms, one lower, one upper and a small kitchen area in back that still has a stove in it. The wooden stairs are long gone but the floor joists for the upstairs remain and the opening for the stairs is still visible. I can't imagine living in such a small, cramped home but it must have seemed like a castle to the original owners. There are also several out buildings in various states of decay, none are savable. I imagine the original owner had a daughter that lived here until she died and then it was never touched again other than the typical vandals and then nothing for decades. The Earth has nearly reclaimed this property.

 

[Mental Granny]

Another great find of old homes to add to your list ! Love it!

 

[Samurai Jack]

Couple abadoned russian orthodox churches in your collection

 

[Ray S S]

Wow These are great photos. I'll bet there would be some great old relics around some of these. When you make one
gigantic, it's almost like you can look under the porch and in the windows. That old church must have been vacated
an awful long time ago, judging by the size of the trees growing up out of the gutter,
Thanks for sharing.
Ray

 

[rmptr]

Very nice pics, GL.
Quite a bit different here in Kalifornia.

It's a rare occasion if you could walk up to anything that was old and unoccupied, or disheveled and falling down.
I guess most properties are bought by someone, quickly.

Chain link fences go up around entire properties almost immediately.
They stay up, even after building are torn down, and the land cleared.

I can only think of two, offhand, that are nearby.
Other newer homes are beginning to pop up, due to the foreclosure mess.
They are frequently boarded up by the bank.

Many years back the state had condemned an bought up some large ranches to build a park. The whole area was open to public travel. I went to fish for bluegill in a stock pond that was overgrown. It had a fence on one side, with a gate, long fallen down. A highway patrol officer went out of his way from a nearby highway within sight of the property to come over and chase me out... he said if you don't own it you have no right to be there.

Difficult to argue with those folks...
Even a bogus citation for trespass traps you into an expensive journey through the court system!

Today, I view a For Sale sign placed on a property as an invitation to inspect it, but am reluctant to pass over land not so posted.

I'll try to get you some pics... I enjoy yours a lot!

Best
rmptr

 

[Frank1960]

I love going around and in old buildings to check things out.

 

[White Feather]

I would like to see you put many, many of these houses in a book. Like a coffee table book collection with a very small bit of information on location, without giving particulars, and very large photos. I have a book like that on Canada that some friends from Toronto sent me. Your collection of photos far exceeds many in the $40 book I was sent. Every one on here would like to have a collection of photos like this. We are all into the old houses like these. The photos you take are very good quality and you seem to have a very good eye for photography. I have gone to photo galleries that didn't have the quality and character that your pictures do. Look into it.
Okay, what do the rest of you think? Isn't this series of photos good enough to interest you if assembled in a large coffee table style book?

Thanks for all the pictures. They are awesome. Here's one of my Dad's house just before it burned to the ground a few months ago. What a loss.

 

[GL]

My dream job would be taking photographs of old places. I absolutely love it.
Here is one I took of my own backyard featuring my great grandfathers buggyhouse. There is something about it...I don't know what it is...it's poorly executed, out of focus and there is clutter throughout but...look at it. The building to the far right was built around 1880 and once had 7 rooms. My grandmother said that when my current house was built they removed the rooms and used the wood as part of the new place. Then rolled the remaining three rooms to the rear of the yard on logs, used poles to lift it and set it on blocks. There it has sat since around 1899. There are brick foundations buried around it where it was further dismantled to build the buggy house and a long since destroyed hay barn. The buggy house was used to house the family car after my great grandfather took a train to Virginia to buy a Model T, before that it held the family carriage. The hay barns foundation remains in the edge of the property as a brick wall with an opening that once held a door. Anyway, here is the abandoned house in my backyard. I know for a fact it was handbuilt by my ancestors using horses and handtools and using sawpit planks made from trees felled with axes on the property. One day I will take pictures of all the stuff here.

 

[White Feather]

DON'T DREAM THE LIFE.... LIVE THE DREAM! GO FOR IT! What have you got to lose? Your photo of the Wheelchair says more than words can discribe. It reminds me of a friends paintings. Your pictures say volumes without uttering a word. That is one of the most moving photos I have seen since those in the 911 book I have. If you do this I want the First Autographed copy. And please include the wheelchair photo in the book.
Good Luck!

 

[jackie blue]

GL - I love your photographs. I live in Eastern NC. Last week I attended a class at UNC's Institute of Government and on the way there, there was a very nice condo/shops area. It was on a hill that was beautifully landscaped but in the middle at the top of the hill on the road, there was a wooded area with an abandoned home sitting on it. I don't know if this is a life estate issue or an estates or escheat issue, but it would be interesting to know why this house is still standing on top of a hill surrounded by expensive real estate. I wish I had had the opportunity to take a photo of it for you. I believe it is across the street from the William Friday Complex near the Mariott but can't be certain. It is off Exit 270 off 85. Go up the exit ramp and turn left to go into Chapel Hill.

 

[GL]

This place is very close to Ellerbe, NC at the 220/73 junction. It had electricity, recently abandoned? Perhaps still occupied? Unknown history.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

That yard has a ton of trash in it!

 

[GL]

My yard? LOL yeah I guess it did. I had 4 Bloodhounds, a Basset and 2 Great Danes at the time and anything they got ahold of became shredded and scattered. Sometimes after a foodbag was empty I'd give it to them to shred and play with, they liked it. Plus lots of butchers bones, deer legs, rawhides and shoes.

 

[riverrunner814]

Beautifull house. Restored it would be my dream house.

 

[Jay Plunder]

I really like taking pictures of them. My job involves a lot of travel and I see these buildings and houses a lot so I will be posting them in this thread as I find them and snap them with my camera. Here is one I posted a while back and it got a good response. Located in Hamlet NC.

Much larger picture for those who would like to see all the details of this once impressive mansion.
It really is much larger than it seems. Keep clicking on it and it will be HUGE.

There is a pretty much exact twin to this house in Havre de Grace, MD that is actually occupied. Sure looks like the same exact house. Same builder, possibly.

 

[admc]

I remember this house from when I used to live in Hamlet, my mother told me it had a ballroom and used to belong to the owner of Smith Island which is now known as Bald Head Island.

 

[jimmy uk]

wow theses houses reminds me of the old scarey films from america that i used to watch when i was a kid.. GREAT PICTURES

 

[GL]

I would imagine the front left side on the ground floor was a "ballroom" or large room for entertaining guests. There is a Victorian awesome place in Carthage, NC that I used to visit and it had a similar room. Very large and full of windows with no support columns creating an open floor area.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I have driven by that one before.

 

[WilliamBoyd]

Photograph removed.